The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-06-08


! the flagship with its blue ensign goes ahead
| up river or into bay, its admiral standing
In the shrouds watching and giving orders.
But have to tell you, Oh veterans OF the
American navy! if you are as loyal to
Christ as you were to the Govern
ment, there is flagship sailing ahead of you
| of which Christ is the admiral, ard He
watches from the shrouds, and the heavens
; are the blue ensign, and He leads you toward
| the harbor, and all the broadsides of earth
and hell cannot damage you; and We, whose
! garments were once red with your own blood,
shall have robe washed and made white in
the blood Of the Lamb. Then strike eight
| bells! High noon in heaven!
| With such anticipation, o, veterans of the
American navy! l charge you bear up under
the aches and weaknesses that you still carry
| from the war times. You are not as stalwart
| as you would have been but for that nervous
strain and for that terrific exposure. Let every
/ ache and pain, instead of depressing, remind
YOU of your fidelity. The sinking of the Wee
! hawken off Morris Island, December 6, 1866,
was mystery. She was not under fire. The
sea was not rough, But Admiral Dahlgren
from the deck of the flag steamer Philadel-
phia, saw her gradually sinking, and finally
She struck the ground, but the flag still
foated above the wave in the sight of the
shipping. 1t was afterwards found that she
Sank ITOH NethLeSS LuEOuSu LII pre-
vious service Her plates had been knocked
loose in previous times. So you have in
nerve, and muscle, and bone, and dimmed
+. eyesight, and difficult hearing, and shortness
OF breath, many intimations that you are
gradually going down. 1t is the service Of
twenty-three years that is telling on you. Be
! of good cheer We owe you just as much as
though your life-b blood had gurgled through the
scuppers of the ship in the Red River expedi-
tion, or as though you had gone down with
the Melville off Hatteras Only keep your
flag flying as did the illustrious Weehawken
Good cheer, my boys The memory OF
man is poor and all that talk about the
country never forgetting those who fought
for it is an untruth. 1t does forget. Witness
how the veterans sometimes had to turn the
hand-organs on the street to get their families
a living. Witness how ruthlessly some Of
them have been turned out of office that
some bloat of politician might take their
place. Witness the fact that there is not
man or woman now under thirty years of
age, who has any full appreciation Of
the four years martyrdom of 1861 and 1865
inclusive. But while men may forget, God
never forgets. He remembers the swinging
hammock He remembers the forecastle. He
remembers the frozen ropes of that January
tempest. He remembers the amputation with
out sufficient ether. He remembers the hor-
CoIS VI CndC uealeIlluS ulSut WHeu toi1S iioi.i
both sides belched on you their fury, and
the heavens glowed with ascending and
descending missiles of death, and
your ship auaked under the re-
coil of the one hundred FOUNDER, while all the
gunners, according to command, stood on
tiptoe with mouth wide open lest the concuS-
sion shatter hearing or brain. He remembers
some shape reward will be given God is the
best of all paymasterS, and for those who do
their whole duty to Him and the world the
pension awarded is an everlasting heaven.
Sometimes off the coast of England the
Royal Family have inspected the British
navy manoeuvred before them for that pur-
pose In the Baltic Sea the Gar and Czarina
have reviewed the Russian navy. To bring
before the American people the debt they
owe to the navy 20 out with you on the At
lantic Ocean where there is plenty of room,
and in imagination review the war-ship-
ping of our three great conflicts-l776, 1872,
and 1866. Swing into line all ye frig-
ates, ironclads. firerafts, gunboats, and
men-of-war! There they. come, all sail
set and all furnaces in full blast, sheaves OF
crystal tossing from their cutting prows.
That is the Delaware, an old Revolutionary
craft, commanded by Commodore Decatur.
Yonder goes the Constitution, Commodore
Hull commanding. There is the Chesapeake,
commanded by Captain Lawrence, whose dy.
ing words We're: Don't give up the ship"
and the Niagara, Of 1872, commanded by
Commodore Perry, who wrote on the back OF
an old letter, resting on his navy cap:
ours" Yonder is the flagship Wabash,
Admiral Dupont commanding; -yonder, the
flagship Minnesota, Admiral Goldborough
commanding; yonder, the John Adams,
Admiral Stringham commanding; yonder.
the flagship Philadelphia, Admiral Dahlgren
commanding; yonder,, the flagship San
Jacinto, Admiral Bailey commanding:
yonder. the Carondelet, Admiral Wathe
commanding; yonder, the flagship Black
Hawk, Admiral Porter commanding yonder.
the flag steamer Benton, Admiral
Foote commanding, yonder the flagship
Hartford, David Glascoe Farragut command
ing. And now all the squadrons of all
departments, from smallest tugboat to
mightiest man-of-war, are in procession
decks and rigging filled with men who fought
on the sea for the old flag ever since we were
a nation. Grandest feet the world ever saw.
Sail on before all ages. Run up all the
colors! Ring all the bells! Yea, open all
the portfolios. Umlimber the guns and load
and fire one great boardside that shall shake the
continents in honor of peace and the eternity
of the American Union! But / lift my hand
and the scene has vanished. Many Of the
ships have dropped under the crystal pave
and out of the forsaken cabin, and other old
craft have swung into the navy yards. and
many of the brave spirits who trod their
decks are gone up to the Eternal Fortress,
from whose easements and embrasures may
we not hope they look down to-day with JOY
upon nation in reunited brotherhood!
At this annual commemoration bethlnk
that most of YOU who were In the naval SER
vice uurlng our lace war are now In the alter
noon OF evening of life. With some Of you
it is two o'clock, three o'clock, four o'clock,
six o'clock, and it will soon be sundown.
If you were Of age when the war broke
out, you are now at least forty-elght.
Many Of you have passed into the sixties
propriate that I hold two great lights
for your illumination-the example Of Chris
tian admirals consecrated to Christ and theiS
country, Admiral Foote and Admiral Farra-
gut. Had the Christian religion been a
cowardly thing they would have had nothing
to do with it. In its faith they lived aa'
died. In our Brooklyn navy-yard Admiral
Foote held prayer meetings and con-
Quoted a revival ON the receiving
ship North Carolina, and on Sabbaths,
far out at sea, followed the chaplain
with religious exhortation. In early life on
board the sloop ofwar Natchez, impressed by
the words of Christian sailor, he gave his
spare time for two weeks to the Bible, and at
the end of that declared openly: 'Henceforth.
under all circumstances, will act for God"
His last words, while dying at the
Astor House, New York, were: Il thank
God for all His goodness to me-" When he
entered heaven he did not have to run block
ado, for it was amid the cheers of great
welcome. The other Christian admiral will
be honored on earth until the DIV when the